Natasha Friend

An unexpected love story between a teen with alopecia areata and a football star who loses his legs after a freak accident.

How We Roll

Annalee Harris

How We Roll follows Quinn, a teenager with alopecia, as she struggles to readjust to life in a new town. Her life begins to change when she meets a group of girls she's too afraid to share her secret with, and Nick, a double amputee who seemingly dislikes her.

This story follows some classic tropes, including the "a-hole with a heart of gold" and "I'm not like other girls". The novel tries to emphasize that, even though we may have issues that cause us to look or act different than others, we're all human underneath; while I appreciate this sentiment, there seemed to be an undercurrent of pretentiousness that I couldn't get behind.

There are some continuity errors that could have easily been remedied in editing, like whether Quinn is wearing a wig or has already taken it off. The biggest problem seems to be the disconnect that the author has with technology, social media, and the way teenagers communicate; the characters in this novel all have new iPhones, yet they text like they're using a T-Mobile Sidekick.

Another aspect of the novel that did not seem rooted in reality was how quickly Nick and Quinn were able to start prodding into each other's lives, especially with Quinn making comments about Nick's disability. Nick is standoffish and rude, yet he doesn't mind this random girl's questions about his legs, his brother's drinking problems, or his relationship with his parents? There's a scene in the novel where she starts rifling through his drawings ... without his permission. Yet he's seemingly "cool" with it, even though she blatantly violated his privacy.

(view spoiler)[The ending bothered me considerably because after Quinn finally opens up to her friends about her autoimmune disorder, her and Nick casually confess their feelings for each other, and she finally feels like she's part of this new community, her hair grows back. It felt awfully convenient that Quinn learned she didn't need her hair to be accepted, only to have it grow back as if her body was rewarding her for "not being like other girls". It felt unnecessary and tainted the ending. (hide spoiler)]

How We Roll

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